The prior the art includes various devices and methods for loading and stacking bales of crop material. It is well known in the art to have a table that pivots along an axis transverse to a bed of a trailer or truck to raise an array of bales from a horizontal position to a vertical position. Once in the vertical position, bales are transferred along the bed by a conveyor to make room for subsequent bales. Several devices exist to transfer the bale from the ground to the tilting table. U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,035 to DeCoene et al. discloses a side loading device using a conveyor to move small bales from the ground to the table. U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,274 to Cook discloses an extensible boom that pivots about a horizontal axis and a vertical axis to move a large bale, or an array of bales from the ground to a bed on a truck. U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,229 to Tilley et al. discloses a front loading device which clamps onto a single large bale and pivots it vertically 190 degrees to place it on a horizontally pivoting table. The table then rotates 180 degrees to make room for a second bale adjacent to the first bale. The Tilley loading device handles only one bale at a time, and requires the pivoting table to arrange two bales together.
Prior art devices for moving bales from the ground to the tilting table are all separate from the tilting table and add complexity and require additional space on the machine that loads and stacks bales. The need exists for a compact, effective loading device, which is combined with the vertically pivoting table for handling large rectangular bales.
The present invention provides an apparatus for use with a transport vehicle having a vehicle support frame to load, transfer, and unload bales of hay or straw and the like. The apparatus comprises a tilting frame hingedly supported by the vehicle support frame and a loader hingedly attached to and supported by the tilting frame. The tilting frame has a side member and pivots about a first pivot axis oriented generally horizontally and transverse to the vehicle. The loader pivots about a second pivot axis proximate to and oriented generally parallel to the side member of the frame. The loader has a plurality of selectively actuated bale engaging tine structures for securing bales to the loader. Each bale engaging tine structure has at least one tine movable between a retracted position and a bale engaging position. A group of bales are pivoted from the ground approximately 180 degrees up and onto a frame, which then tilts the group vertically so that the entire group can be moved rearwardly on the vehicle bed by a conveyor to a collection area on the vehicle.
In one embodiment, the loader has a forward portion and a rear portion adjacent the forward portion, and both portions pivot independently about the second pivot axis. Each portion has at least one set of bale engaging tine structures. Preferably the rear portion is wider than the forward portion and it has at least two sets of bale engaging tine structures.
The loader includes a grapple assembly, a plurality of grapple brackets preferably removably fastened to the grapple assembly, and a plurality of pivot brackets. Each pivot bracket is preferably removably fastened to a grapple bracket, and each pivot bracket cooperates with a pivot member of the tilting frame to make a hinged joint.
The loader also includes a plurality of transverse members in spaced parallel arrangement supporting the bale engaging tine structures. The bale engaging tine structures include a tine shaft extending between and rotatably supported by adjacent transverse members. Each tine shaft has at least one tine attached, and the tines are preferably curved. The tine shafts rotate to move the tines between the retracted position and the bale engaging position. The bale engaging tine structures are arranged in sets longitudinally on the loader and each set is independently actuated. Each set of bale engaging tine structures includes a first subset and a second subset of bale engaging tine structures. The first subset is located near the hinged joint; the second subset is located transversely from the first subset opposite the hinged joint. The bale engaging tine structures of each subset are constructed and arranged so that the tines move inward when engaging, and outward when disengaging a bale. Each inner and outer subset of a set of bale engaging tine structures are synchronously actuated, preferably by a an extensible actuator and a linkage connecting each subset, to simultaneously engage or disengage a bale.
Each subset of bale engaging tine structures preferably includes a first and second tine shaft, and each tine shaft has at least one tine. The second tine shaft is located inward from the first tine shaft and is connected to the first tine shaft by a linkage so that both tine shafts synchronously rotate in the same direction. Preferably the first tine shaft has two tines and the second tine shaft-has one tine located longitudinally between the two tines of the first tine shaft.
The apparatus further comprises a rub bar and a crowding bar connected to the vehicle support frame. The rub bar is aligned substantially parallel to the second pivot axis and is positioned laterally so as to properly position a group of bales laterally relative to the second pivot axis. The crowding bar is an extensible bar that extends generally transversely outward from the vehicle and substantially normal to the rub bar. The crowding bar is longitudinally positioned approximately at the location of the first pivot axis, and it properly positions the group of bales longitudinally relative to the loader.
The apparatus can be used to cut and distribute bales by including at least one transverse conveyor in the loader and a traversing cutoff device connected to the vehicle support frame and traversing adjacent the loader. The transverse conveyor laterally moves bales supported on the loader, and the traversing cutoff device cuts off portions of bales moved laterally by the transverse conveyor so that the cut portion falls beyond the vehicle.
The features, benefits and objects of this invention will become clear to those skilled in the art by reference to the following description, claims and drawings.